Eastern New Mexico University's men's basketball team narrowly lost their season opener to Fort Lewis, with a final score of 76-73. The game was held in Portales and marked the start of the 2025-26 season for the Greyhounds.
Head coach Daven Võ addressed the outcome, stating, "We had a great crowd tonight. Just didn't shoot the ball well from the free throw line. Very correctable. We played hard and made some runs."
Fort Lewis benefited from a strong performance by Utah State transfer Jaxon Smith, who scored 28 points and hit seven three-pointers out of eleven attempts. Smith also contributed two rebounds and two assists.
Eastern New Mexico focused on controlling turnovers and rebounding. The team won the rebound battle 42-37, including a notable advantage in offensive rebounds at 21-11.
Senior forward Jose Murillo recorded his fifth career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, shooting six-for-seven from the field. Other key contributors included Mo Austin with 16 points, Austin Abrams with 14, and Treyvon Byrd with 11. Austin also added eight rebounds and seven assists in his debut for Eastern New Mexico.
Senior guard Cooper Jackson registered four steals during the game. Last season, Jackson led the Lone Star Conference in steals per game with an average of 3.1. He finished this match with eight points, both baskets coming from beyond the arc.
Free throw shooting was a deciding factor in the close contest; Eastern New Mexico made only half of their attempts while Fort Lewis converted nearly seventy percent of theirs. Turnovers were similar between teams, as Fort Lewis committed sixteen compared to fourteen by ENMU.
The opening night drew an engaged crowd to Greyhound Arena as fans watched new talent take the court for Eastern New Mexico.
For Fort Lewis, Chuol Deng contributed twelve points and Yorgio Golesis added ten. The visiting team excelled at three-point shooting, making over fifty-six percent of their attempts.
Eastern New Mexico will aim for its first win of the season against New Mexico Highlands University in their next game scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. NMHU has started their season with four losses following a recent defeat by Western New Mexico.
